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11 YEAR OLD LULU SCOUT WINS PLATINUM AWARD AT ONSTAGE NEW YORK 2015 REGIONAL COMPETITIONWITH COVER OF BILLY JOEL'S NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

11 year old Lulu Scout Nelson performs "New York State of Mind" at the Onstage New York 2015 Regional Competition Championships. Her third vocal competition, she placed first winning the Platinum Award in the Advanced Vocal Pop Solo Junior section. For more information about Lulu Scout Nelson, visit luluscout.com

New York State of Mind" is a song written by Billy Joel which initially appeared on the album Turnstiles in 1976. Although it was never a hit song and was never released as a single, it has become a fan favorite and a song that Joel plays regularly in concert. Joel famously played the song at the The Concert for New York City, the October 2001 benefit concert for the New York City Fire and Police Departments and the loved ones of families of first responders lost during the terrorist attack on New York City on 9/11. He reprised that theme, playing it during his set at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 12, 2012, where he changed lyrics to include the likes of "Breezy Point.”

Since Joel first recorded and released the song in 1976, it has become a pop standard that has been covered by numerous artists, including Barbra Streisand, Lea Michele and Melissa Benoist, Joanna Wang, Elton John, Shirley Bassey, Oleta Adams, Carmen McRae, Mark-Almond, Diane Schuur, Ben Sidran, Mel Tormé, Frank Sinatra Jr., Adam Pascal, and Tony Bennett. Bennett and Joel recorded a duet of the song for Bennett's 2001 album Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues and received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 2002 Grammy Awards. The two performed the song on the award telecast that night. They performed the song again at Shea Stadium during Joel's concert in 2008 to commemorate the closing of the stadium. Joel has also performed duets of the song with Elton John during their collaborative Face-To-Face Tour, with the country singer Garth Brooks during Brooks's Central Park Concert in 1997, and with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as one of Springsteen's special guests during his performance at the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert" at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 29, 2009. The song was aped in Boston by Emma Stanganelli, most notably in a duet with Billy Joel in Fenway Park during his 2014 tour.